Low-cost, Lightweight, Mid-Wave InfraRed (MWIR) Sensors

"In Phase I of this proposed program, an innovative high yield technology will be developed to produce MWIR HgCdTe arrays operating at TE-cooled temperatures. This technology has been successfully used at Fermionics Corporation to develop shortwave andlongwave HgCdTe arrays. By the end of the Phase I program, a camera, using the TE-cooled MWIR HgCdTe focal plane array as the sensing device will be delivered to the Navy for evaluation. The readout circuit used for operating the HgCdTe array will beCircuit ISC9809, a standard product of Indigo Systems.In Phase II, the development efforts will be directed to reducing weight, cost, and dimension of the integrated cameras. Companies with related specialties will be invited to join the development team. Finally, in Phase III, a large-scale production linewill be established. The lightweight, low cost, TE-cooled HgCdTe MWIR cameras will be commercialized for both military and civilian applications. The manned land/sea/air vehicle, UAV, and infantry military market for such sensors could be in excess of 1000 cameras per year. Additional applications such as spectroscopy, remote sensing, medical imaging, firefighting, police/border patrol, and othergovernment/commercial/scientific applications could have a market of tens of thousands/year. As the camera costs drop, the market for such devices is likely to expand rapidly."